The weekly sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1887-06-30
TO TENNESSEE AFOOT.
A PEDESTRIAN TOUR THROUGH
TH-WESTERN CAROLINA.
Entertaining Description OF "a Portion
of Our State About Which Little Has
Heretofore Been Written.
BY PROF. L. B. wURREscHKE.
PAPER NO. y.
For the Sentinel.

very pretty and is said to afford rich
sport to the amateur fishermen.
Near the large, new Hotel we
met an acquaintance from Salem,
who greeted us most kindly and cor
daily, giving such further informa-
ton as we needed. We saw the Ho-
tel near by but preferred, as we could
not stop at Estis's, to go two miles
further, where we would be quite
near to the Blowing Rock itself. We
passed the clearinghouse of Mr..
Morris, and heard that it also was
we'll filled. Our further road took
us past some most magnificent views
upon the endless valley far below;
at last we reached the modest house
of a certain preacher, who also re-
ceives boarders. Here we proposed
ostay till over tomorrow.
On the evening of our arrival,
though it was quite dark, except for
the light of the stars, we yet made
our way to the Blowing Rock itself,
only about half mile distant from
the house. Inexperienced the blow
ing part to perfection, for a wet
cloth, which we threw again and
again over the precipice, was blown
back into the very tops of the small
trees behind us. All the while,
which made the matter still more
wonderful, it seemed as if the wind
was blowing toward the lowlands.
What causes the remarkable back
ward blowing is, no doubt, return
current of air generated and inten-
sifed in this hollow precipice below
the rock The night air also, must
have something to do with it, for the
next day, though we were at the
Rock twice again, and in fact, spent
almost the whole forenoon about it,
we felt little of the remarkable phe-
nomenon which gives its name to
this beautiful place and to the whole
neighborhood.
The afternoon of the next day we
spent mostly about the place called
Fairview-looking down into the
beautiful valley Of the Johns River.
OF course we also tried good many
springs in the immedite eneighborhood
springs which flow into the Yad-
kin and others which flow into the
New River are close together. A
small house, politely remembered by
us as Blowing Rock Seminary, is
remarkable for the fact, that the wa
ter falling from rains on one side of
its roof, is bound for the Atlantic
Ocean, while the water falling on
the other side of the roof will find
its way into the Gulf of Mexico.
The morning of Wednesday, when
we wanted to start, was very unpro-
pitious. Heavy, soaking rain began
to fall early, and the prospect was
very gloomy. Nevertheless we in
tended to follow out our plan, as
soon as the rain would abate little.
So [ settled my bill, which, by the
way, was quite moderate. Amusing
it was to me, however, how our host,
after l had asked him for the amount
that I owed, seemed for long while
to enter into serious calculations, so
intricate, and absorbing as if he were
calculating the Eclipses of Saturn's
moons for the next hundred years
The company whom we had met
and become quite well acquainted
with at our stopping place, had been
very congenial, 50 we took pleasant
remembrances with us, when we
started about ten o'clock, to go
down the beautiful, nigh road
leading from Blowing Rock into
Caldwell county. We met quite a
number of hacks laden with guests
coming up from Lenoir, they had to
enter a rainy district, whilst we, the
more we descended, according to our
usual good fortune, soon had beauti-
full sunshine before us and around
us. When meeting those hack-loads
of new visitors to Blowing Rock we
could not help imagining how very
forlorn some of their inmates would
have felt If they had been suddenly
placed on terra .tsa'nsa with no other
prospect before them than that which
was ours, namely: tomake their way
home on their feet. I feel certain
that if they noticed us at all passing
them in the drizzling rain-they
didn't 'tenvy us, but neither did we envy
them. They had come lengthy
railroad journey to Lenoir and then